On one side it is of gold with purple flowers; on the other it is of black silk with silver checks.  Such a belt can be worn on either side:  the part woven with gold for festive days; the reverse for days of mourning.

A vivid picture of the Polish character is to be found in Mickiewicz’s epic poem, Pan Tadeusz, from which the above quotations are taken.

[Footnote:  I may mention here another interesting book illustrative of Polish character and life, especially in the second half of the eighteenth century, which has been of much use to me—­namely, Count Henry Rzewuski’s Memoirs of Pan Severin Soplica, translated into German, and furnished with an instructive preface by Philipp Lubenstein.]

He handles his pencil lovingly; proclaiming with just pride the virtues of his countrymen, and revealing with a kindly smile their weaknesses.  In this truest, perhaps, of all the portraits that have ever been drawn of the Poles, we see the gallantry and devotion, the generosity and hospitality, the grace and liveliness in social intercourse, but also the excitability and changefulness, the quickly inflamed enthusiasm and sudden depression, the restlessness and turbulence, the love of outward show and of the pleasures of society, the pompous pride, boastfulness, and other little vanities, in short, all the qualities, good and bad, that distinguish his countrymen.  Heinrich Heine, not always a trustworthy witness, but in this case so unusually serious that we will take advantage of his acuteness and conciseness, characterises the Polish nobleman by the following precious mosaic of adjectives:  “hospitable, proud, courageous, supple, false (this little yellow stone must not be lacking), irritable, enthusiastic, given to gambling, pleasure-loving, generous, and overbearing.”  Whether Heine was not mistaken as to the presence of the little yellow stone is a question that may have to be discussed in another part of this work.  The observer who, in enumerating the most striking qualities of the Polish character, added “Mistrustfulness and suspiciousness engendered by many misfortunes and often-disappointed hopes,” came probably nearer the truth.  And this reminds me of a point which ought never to be left out of sight when contemplating any one of these portraits—­namely, the time at which it was taken.  This, of course, is always an important consideration; but it is so in a higher degree in the case of a nation whose character, like the Polish, has at different epochs of its existence assumed such varied aspects.  The first great change came over the national character on the introduction of elective kingship:  it was, at least so far as the nobility was concerned, a change for the worse—­from simplicity, frugality, and patriotism, to pride, luxury, and selfishness; the second great change was owing to the disasters that befell the nation in the latter half of the last century:  it was on the whole